Page 25 of Queen of the Wicked (Afterlife #1)
Erebos cleared his throat, clearly taken aback by her boldness. “That’s fair. You are free to join Eryx and me in the sessions going forward. ”
“And how many of those are left, exactly?”
“Depending on your approval, the route should be finished by next week. The waiting will mostly be on your ability to control your powers.”
She nodded and bit into a strawberry, swiping off the spritz of juice on her lip with her tongue. Erebos was glued to the action, shifting subtly in his seat before he asked, “Well? Do you agree to the truce?”
The answer was a no-brainer. Getting to know him better was exactly what she needed to figure out more about her past and how to remove his powers from her.
Spending more time with him would allow her to ask more questions.
The more information she had, the better her chance of understanding what her parents had been trying to protect her from.
It would allow her to gain his favor, which would likely expedite the process of finding her mother.
“Yes,” she admitted, albeit reluctantly. “I think I’d like that.”
Erebos swallowed a bite of his eggs before tilting his head at her in a predatory way that had her moral compass out of wack. She shouldn’t wish she were prey, but when it came to the Lord of Hell, she didn’t mind the idea of being hunted. “Perfect. What are your plans today, looking so ravishing?”
She rolled her eyes. “Okay, if you want to be friends, you can’t tell me I’m hot.”
“I called you ravishing, not hot,” he said.
“Ravishing is the same thing as hot in your old-timey language.”
“Old-timey?” He laughed so hard he threw his head back. The motion caused his ankle to brush against her own, and she stiffened from the contact.
“Yes! Your accent confuses me. It’s modern sometimes, but then you’ll say something like ravishing and throw me completely off guard.”
“Well, I do maintain ownership of Hell and Earth, and, as you know, Earth is in the 21st century. I have to fit in when I have business dealings there or have a soul to collect. Sometimes the linguistics mesh together, so I could understand why it would be confusing.”
“Just how old are you, Erebos?”
He ripped off a piece of a buttery biscuit, and Alessia’s mouth dried out when he licked his thumb to gather the remaining sweetness. “Is that something you really wish to know?”
“Probably not,” she muttered.
“I didn’t think so. Am I not allowed to tell you when you look nice?”
“ No. You have a lot to learn about friendship, Erebos. How many girls have you ever actually been friends with? Just friends?”
“I am friends with Izara,” he replied.
“And you both have never…” Alessia couldn’t even finish the sentence. If he told her they’d slept together, she’d burn her to smithereens tomorrow during their training session.
“I am not her type, but the thought has never crossed my mind if that is what you’re asking. Aside from Izara, no, I cannot say I have ever had a purely platonic relationship with another female.”
“My point exactly.” Alessia stabbed a pancake with her fork. “I am open to being cordial for the sake of the upcoming mission, but that doesn’t include flirting.”
“Is that so?” He leaned across the table, and god, seeing those onyx eyes against the corinthians swaying in the background was the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen.
“You fail to remember that your thoughts are on full display for me, Alessia, and the thoughts you’ve projected during this breakfast have been the furthest from platonic. ”
“You haven’t read my thoughts today. I can feel when you’re there with me mentally, and you haven’t been since I’ve sat down.” A part of her respected him for that. He could live in her head rent free if he wanted, but he hadn’t opted to do so since Kael’s visit.
“I don’t need to read your thoughts when you keep projecting,” he countered.
“That doesn’t mean I want you! You’re just…
” She flung a hand around his face as if that would explain it.
“Any woman would have those thoughts. They mean nothing.” Alessia narrowed her eyes at the slow smile that crept onto his lips, and she felt downright murderous when that soft, melodic sound echoed through the air again. “Why are you laughing? ”
“Forgive me.” Picking up a napkin, he swiped the buttery grease away from the corners of his mouth.
“I have recently come to terms with the fact that keeping our distance from each other is rather impossible.” Then, as if he didn’t mean to admit that, he added, “The night my powers transferred into you made us more connected than I imagined.”
Understatement of the century. Without mental shields, Erebos had access to her thoughts, and that’s not to mention this incessant need she felt to be near him.
This past week, she only saw him during dinner; even then, he spoke to her hardly at all.
She assumed the tether between them was due to his powers craving their rightful owner, and she loathed that this breakfast between them had revitalized her.
“You are so full of yourself, huh? For your information, I don’t want you, Erebos.”
His lips twitched, threatening a smile. “As you wish, Alessia. Friends it is. Indefinitely. ”
“Why do I get the sense you’re joking?”
“I’m not. We shall be friends.”
“And we shall work on getting your language up to modern speed. Permanently.” Releasing a breath, Alessia desperately moved to change the subject. “There’s a library here, right? Where is it exactly?”
He smiled again, and it was so unlike the brooding man she first met that she didn’t even know if she was speaking to the same person. She wouldn’t push shapeshifting out of the realm of possibilities for Izara. Maybe this was another one of her powers, and she was attempting a joke.
“I can show you after breakfast if you’d like,” he said. “It’s about time I give you a proper tour of the castle myself.”